Good day Exer’s,
Sorry I haven’t updated for a while. I’ve been kind of recovering from all of the stress of the past. I never knew that having a person go missing can be so incredibly draining. But now, that’s in the past. And there’s a very important item for me that I thought I’d mention. I’m still smoke free!
Yep, that’s right. I now believe that there’s no way I’m going to smoke again, ever! And to think that all those years ago I was working on an entirely different mindset. One that was destructive, rather than productive. One that was slavery, rather than freedom. One that knew with every waking moment that so long as I continued feeding my addiction, the world would be fine. I would be calm and safe.
Back then in those days of slavery that I thought I was enjoying, there wouldn’t have been enough cigarettes to get me through the trying times. You see, I really couldn’t smoke any more than I was already smoking because there simply wasn’t a time in my day that I wasn’t smoking, and believing that it would make everything just fine. In short, I was hopelessly addicted.
I mention this because so often when people are considering quitting, they think that they’re more addicted than anybody else. I felt much the same. And when we tell ourselves that, it helps to convince us that there’s no way out, no matter how hard we try.
When I first decided to quit, I was terrified! Both of losing my comfort and of failure. As I smoked and thought about quitting, it seemed like an impossible task to complete. And yet, here I am well over seven years smoke free.
How I got here is what’s important, I think. You see, I didn’t just decide one day to put out my last cigarette and simply walk away from it because having tried that before and failing, I knew it was simply a waste of time. I knew that I had no idea as to how to quit. I’d reached the point where I seriously wanted to quit, and that in itself was no small feat.
Taking the time to learn what addiction is and how to deal with it is key to success! We must completely understand ourselves and how we interact with our addiction. That’s what’s important. With understanding comes confidence and with confidence comes belief. And with belief comes the ability to lose the fear of quitting.
On the day that I actually put out my last cigarette, I felt no fear. Instead I felt a kind of excitement for you see, I believed that I would succeed. I knew that I’d done all that I could to make that success happen and now I can tell you that I am completely free forever! If I was ever going to smoke again, it would have been a couple of weeks ago. But the thought never even entered my mind.
In fact, I was ten times more effective because I had no distractions, nor did I have the desire to take one of those phony breaks that I used to take when I smoked.
Take the time to learn and your chances for success skyrocket! Never give up and never give in to yourself and you too will be sitting on the other side of addiction. You too will be free and at peace. It’s all right there waiting for you. Go for it!!
ONWARD TO FREEDOM!!!
Chuck
